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Thursday, April 9, 2009

IN THE CLASSROOM THIS WEEK

From the Editor

This was a challenging week for me as a student teacher. I worked with a classroom of students who have very challenging behaviors. On top of that the school began standardized testing which meant every grade’s schedule was completely different. I learned a lot about students and behaviors.

I also had students begging to read comics with me. This included struggling and advanced readers, which I found very exciting. The younglings were anxious to read, share, discuss, laugh and connect with an adult.

2 comments:

Take heart - that is the toughest challenge for every teacher. I still struggle with it and I've been at this for over 20 years! Keep trying...different approaches work with different kids. I'd use comics as a reward for sure!

When I was student teaching, both of my placements were with students who were too young for the standardized tests. When I did my long-term subbing last year, it was the same story. So next week will be my first experience with state testing... and I have to interpret the entirety of the math and language tests into American Sign Language for one of my students. Oi. I only have 4 students, but they have the needs of a group of 25... we'll see how behavior goes with all this testing going on.

By the way: I love your website, and it has been a great resource for me as I prepare for next year's class of reluctant, deaf and hard-of-hearing readers. It's the perfect text for them--so visual! Thanks for doing what you do!

About TGC

The Graphic Classroom is a resource for teachers and librarians to help them stock high quality, educational-worthy, graphic novels and comics in their classroom or school library. I read and review every graphic novel or comic on this blog and give it a rating as to appropriateness for the classroom.

Submit Your Comics

Would you like your comic or graphic novel reviewed here at THE GRAPHIC CLASSROOM? You can do so in two ways, one of which is guaranteed and the other is not:

1. Send me a copy of the comic or graphic novel. I will read it and review it as soon as possible. You can email me privately and I will give you my mailing address. abikerbard@mac.com

2. You can simply tell me about your creation.

If you send me a copy, then I will review your submission. I will be honest and fair and do my best to get your book reviewed in a timely manner. I am a full time graduate student, so my time is limited. If I receive a lot of books, then I will put them on a first-come, first-reviewed list and do the best I can.

If you cannot or will not send me a media copy of your book, then you can just request that I review it. My money is short, as I am going to school and not working, so you are depending on my ability to afford your book. There is no guarantee that I will get to your work nor any guarantee that I will even review it. If I can afford it and have time to read it, then I will most certainly review it. It's all about the teachers, librarians and kids.

Reviews are never based on free media copies. I am writing my Master's Thesis on the subject of comics in the classroom, so this is important to me. I am committed to this and I take reviews very seriously. I do not rip into books in order to get readership. I will have a critical eye, but I am also excited about helping teachers find great books for the classroom.

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About The Editor

My name is Chris Wilson. My first name is Jack, which is why you see it on the posts, but I usually go by my middle name: Chris. Having worked as the Managing Editor for a weekly newspaper then as the Director of a non-profit for people with disabilities, I have gone back to school. I am now a full time graduate student in the college of education at Missouri State University. I am getting my Masters of Science in Education – Elementary Education.

I know that reading is a problem for many students today. I feel strongly that comics and graphic novels can be one way that we can combat this problem. Graphics novels should be in every public school library and classroom library. That is why I am choosing to write my thesis on using comics and graphic novels in the elementary classroom.

Email Meabikerbard@mac.com

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Disclaimer

Some comic literature is not appropriate for every classroom, or every community. Some are not appropriate for any classroom. You need to review any piece of comic literature for yourself and determine if it is appropriate for your grade, class, curriculum, goals, school and community.